So, the Dungeon Master's Workshop chapter from the 5e DMG allows the GM to create a monster from scratch (p.273), but the new 2024 DMG does not provide any guidelines to do so. It instead gives rules towards Minor Alterations (p.56) and just a few Traits that may or may not unbalance the encounter difficulty. My question is: can I still use the 2014 rules to create a monster from scratch and calculate the encounter difficulty based on the creature's final Challange Rating and XP? Do I have to calculate myself all of the effects that the new Traits (p.57) from the 2024 DMG will have on either the Defensive CR or the Offensive CR? Is there any other way? Can we expect that D&D Beyond will release a short, free set of instructions to successfully create a monster from scratch?
You should be able to use the 2014 rules just fine. In most cases the monsters were weaker than they should have been.
It's unlikely that they are going to release how to make a monster. If they do it will probably be in a DM Guide II which won't come out for another couple years at the earliest.
I would recommend Forge of Foes. It was made for 2014, but should still be compatible for 2024.
I think using the 2014 rules will put you slightly behind the 2024 standards, particularly at higher CRs, but likely not dramatic. Let's look at the stone golem.
220 hp with AC 18 is barely above the 2014 standard for CR 10 (206-220 with AC 17); it rounds to 10.
48 damage per round with attack bonus of +10 is a base CR of 7 from damage, but accuracy increases it to 9.
Its immunities probably do not modify CR.
Magic resistance is an effective +2 AC, increasing defensive CR by 1.
The ability to cast slow does not have a defined effect on its CR.
If we assume its spellcasting, being non-damaging, has no effect on CR, it's spot on for CR 10.
For the 2024 stone golem, and according to the 2014 rules:
Its Defensive CR would be 21, because:
220 HP falls under a CR of 10, but because of its Immunities, its Effective HP becomes 440 HP (x2 Multiplier), and thus it falls under a CR of 21
Magic Resistance grants a +2 to the creature's Effective AC
18 AC (+2 because of Magic Resistance) is 1 points over the suggested AC for a CR 21 creature, so it does not change
Its Offensive CR would be 8-9, because:
44 - 48 is the average damage the creature can deal in one round, for a Effective Damage that falls under a CR of 7
+9 - +10 is 4 points over the suggested Attack Bonus for a CR 6 creature, so it increases to 9
DC 17 (if we take it into account, instead of the Attack Bonus) is 2 points over the suggested DC for a CR creature, so it increases to 8
After all of this, the stone golem's Effective CR would be approximately 15.
I know that it might be simpler to just take a random creature, change its type and appearance and voilá, I got my homebrew monster, but sometimes I just want to create a homebrew monster from scratch because the Traits that other creatures have do not appeal to me or because I want to create my own, with my own mechanics.
The HP multiplier for resistances really only applies if the creature has many resistances, including common ones such as bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. Poison and Psychic has no effect on its CR. Save DC only applies if the creature's primary attacks are save based, in which case it replaces the bonus from accuracy, rather than adding to it (and this kind of discussion is probably why they didn't provide rules).
Somewhere I read an opinion saying they, on purpose, didn't provide that 2014 DM's workshop guides because they don't want you to create any more, but to consume their content (aka buy it)... and for me it seems that can be true, but who knows.
Somewhere I read an opinion saying they, on purpose, didn't provide that 2014 DM's workshop guides because they don't want you to create any more, but to consume their content (aka buy it)... and for me it seems that can be true, but who knows.
While they probably do want you to buy their monsters, not providing a means to determine CR hardly prevents people from creating monsters. The version they provided in 2014 was a big pain to use and demonstrably didn't work for their own monsters, so "no system" isn't really a downgrade from "a system that doesn't actually work".
Somewhere I read an opinion saying they, on purpose, didn't provide that 2014 DM's workshop guides because they don't want you to create any more, but to consume their content (aka buy it)... and for me it seems that can be true, but who knows.
While they probably do want you to buy their monsters, not providing a means to determine CR hardly prevents people from creating monsters. The version they provided in 2014 was a big pain to use and demonstrably didn't work for their own monsters, so "no system" isn't really a downgrade from "a system that doesn't actually work".
The 2014 DMG Worshop Guide allowed you to create a monster almost from scratch, and it gave you several features form other creatures from the MM and told you how these affected CR, I'm not saying it was a complete system, because it may have its flaws, but the 2024 DMG only tells you to Copy and Paste one of the MM creatures and just change the name, damage type and MAYBE a couple of features that do not affect CR, and for me there is a great difference between these two. The 2014 DMG allowed you to create something that felt more personal, more homebrew, more of your own, the 2024 DMG is just the same monster with a mask and a different weapon that will do almost the same amount of damage.
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So, the Dungeon Master's Workshop chapter from the 5e DMG allows the GM to create a monster from scratch (p.273), but the new 2024 DMG does not provide any guidelines to do so. It instead gives rules towards Minor Alterations (p.56) and just a few Traits that may or may not unbalance the encounter difficulty. My question is: can I still use the 2014 rules to create a monster from scratch and calculate the encounter difficulty based on the creature's final Challange Rating and XP? Do I have to calculate myself all of the effects that the new Traits (p.57) from the 2024 DMG will have on either the Defensive CR or the Offensive CR? Is there any other way? Can we expect that D&D Beyond will release a short, free set of instructions to successfully create a monster from scratch?
You should be able to use the 2014 rules just fine. In most cases the monsters were weaker than they should have been.
It's unlikely that they are going to release how to make a monster. If they do it will probably be in a DM Guide II which won't come out for another couple years at the earliest.
I would recommend Forge of Foes. It was made for 2014, but should still be compatible for 2024.
I think using the 2014 rules will put you slightly behind the 2024 standards, particularly at higher CRs, but likely not dramatic. Let's look at the stone golem.
If we assume its spellcasting, being non-damaging, has no effect on CR, it's spot on for CR 10.
Its Offensive CR would be 8-9, because:
After all of this, the stone golem's Effective CR would be approximately 15.
I know that it might be simpler to just take a random creature, change its type and appearance and voilá, I got my homebrew monster, but sometimes I just want to create a homebrew monster from scratch because the Traits that other creatures have do not appeal to me or because I want to create my own, with my own mechanics.
The HP multiplier for resistances really only applies if the creature has many resistances, including common ones such as bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing. Poison and Psychic has no effect on its CR. Save DC only applies if the creature's primary attacks are save based, in which case it replaces the bonus from accuracy, rather than adding to it (and this kind of discussion is probably why they didn't provide rules).
Somewhere I read an opinion saying they, on purpose, didn't provide that 2014 DM's workshop guides because they don't want you to create any more, but to consume their content (aka buy it)... and for me it seems that can be true, but who knows.
While they probably do want you to buy their monsters, not providing a means to determine CR hardly prevents people from creating monsters. The version they provided in 2014 was a big pain to use and demonstrably didn't work for their own monsters, so "no system" isn't really a downgrade from "a system that doesn't actually work".
The 2014 DMG Worshop Guide allowed you to create a monster almost from scratch, and it gave you several features form other creatures from the MM and told you how these affected CR, I'm not saying it was a complete system, because it may have its flaws, but the 2024 DMG only tells you to Copy and Paste one of the MM creatures and just change the name, damage type and MAYBE a couple of features that do not affect CR, and for me there is a great difference between these two. The 2014 DMG allowed you to create something that felt more personal, more homebrew, more of your own, the 2024 DMG is just the same monster with a mask and a different weapon that will do almost the same amount of damage.